CINEMA REVIEW: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

CINEMA REVIEW: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie

Written by: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen
Based on: Mission: Impossible by Bruce Geller

Produced by: Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny etc.

Cinematography: Fraser Taggart

*** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ***



To be honest, I did consider just cutting and pasting my review of the previous Mission Impossible film here again and changing the title. Such is the familiarity with the franchise’s stylistic tropes. Would my seven loyal readers or the odd random one who visits by mistake actually notice such devious self-plagiarism?

https://thecinemafix.com/2018/08/14/mission-impossible-bingo-incorporating-fallout-2018-movie-review/

But then I decided that I would not do my usual hack job. Surely I must have something new to say when reviewing the latest Tom Cruise/Christopher McQuarrie spy action genre masterpiece? After all, Tom Cruise himself has been portraying the same character for years in Ethan Hunt and still has so much energy to give. Furthermore, with Christopher McQuarrie as writer-director, Cruise has managed to breathe fresh inspiration into this well worn franchise, which as been on the go since the 1960’s television show screened.

While the films follow a certain formula, McQuarrie and Cruise don’t appear to have succumbed to the lure of using artificial intelligence to write the screenplay for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023). In fact, rather cleverly they have made a sentient computer programme and ever-developing algorithms the enemy of the story. Of course, humans are the ultimate evil as they did create the devious A:I code called ‘The Entity.’ But, along with insane acolytes, arms brokers and various government agencies searching for ‘The Entity‘, the IMF team are faced with defeating a power which can track their every move, listen to and imitate human’s voices and also control thousands of digital systems worldwide. Well, it isn’t called Mission: Impossible for nothing!



Along with stalwarts of the series in Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Rebecca Ferguson, the ensemble are joined on the mission by Hayley Atwell’s arch-thief, Grace. In keeping with the themes of shifting identities in the film and TV series, Grace may or may not be her actual name. Atwell is very effective in the role. But she doesn’t have the stunning physical ability or magnetic allure of Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust, who is arguably under-used in this film. Of the rest of the cast, Simon Pegg again delivers some brilliant zingers and balances out Cruise’s “Übermensch” persona. But, of course, Cruise again steals the show with his coolness, wit and sheer physical bravado in many high-octane stunts. So much running too. Tom Cruise’s running is almost as iconic as the M:I theme tune.

‘The Entity’ itself as an over-arching nemesis is impressively zeitgeist, but Esai Morales as Gabriel is a pretty good human baddie too. He is backed up by two-dimensional, but seductive hench-person, Paris, rendered by Pom Klementieff. Thus, the IMF, CIA, Entity fanatics, and various other agencies chase the (McGuffin) dual-key system which unlocks ‘The Entity.’ In turn, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), follows the structure of: spectacular action set-piece followed by IMF talking in darkened-safehouse followed by negotiated meetings between adversaries ending in fighting, double and triple crosses, followed by another spectacular action set-piece with much Tom Cruise running interspersed etc. all set in various fascinating global destinations.

Overall, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) is overlong with many dialogue scenes which could have been shaved or combined with action. However, the action sequences again are of the highest standard in terms of cinematic blockbuster grandeur and invention. Cruise, McQuarrie and his production team deserve all the plaudits they can carry for the funny and suspenseful airport set-piece. Moreover, the final act extended action sequence set on the Orient Express is one of the most exhilarating I have experienced in a cinema. To write, design, choreograph and deliver a series of astonishing stunts and create such kinetic suspense must be commended. Such breath-taking work is the peak of blockbuster action cinema and something artificial intelligence can never reproduce. Eat your heart out ChatGPT!!

Mark: 8.5 out of 11


CINEMA REVIEW: INDIANA JONES and the DIAL OF DISNEY (2023)

CINEMA REVIEW: INDIANA JONES and the DIAL OF DESTINY (2023)

Directed by James Mangold

Written by: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp
and James Mangold

Based on Characters by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman

Produced by: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel

Main cast: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Ethann Isidore, Mads Mikkelsen, etc.

Cinematography: Phedon Papamichael

*** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ***



Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) was one of the most memorable cinema experiences I ever had in my early life. Myself and my younger brother went and watched it at the ABC Cinema Fulham in 1981. I was eleven and he was nine year’s old. After the film ended, we were exhilarated and hungry. We decided that rather than spend our remaining money on bus fare, we’d prefer to walk home to Battersea and share a bag of chips in the rain.

The three mile walk lasted no time at all as we were full of excitement about the incredible film we’d just witnessed. Gigantic rolling balls, snakes in cockpits, treacherous monkeys, villainous Germans, a hard-drinking heroine, unforgettable fights, shootouts, chase scenes galore, and a whip-cracking, charismatic, never-say-die archaeology Professor as our leading protagonist. Those Nazis never stood a chance chasing the ultimate McGuffin in the lost Ark of the Covenant.

My brother and I bounced out of the cinema wishing we were Harrison Ford. He portrayed the world-weary and intelligent man of action, Indiana Jones, superbly. After Ford’s star-making turn as Han Solo, here he was doubling down and cementing his place as one of the most charismatic screen actors. Fast-forward forty-two years later and Ford is back for the fifth outing of “Indy” in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). After the disastrously poor Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), could ‘Dial’ redeem the franchise? Well, given they spent almost $300 million dollar on it, I would say, no!



The story, if you can call it that, finds a grouchy and retired Indy, literally now a crumbling fossil himself, dragged into the murky shenanigans of his god-daughter, portrayed by critic’s darling, Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She’s looking for an ancient artefact that also happens to be sought by nefarious agents, led by Mads Mikkelsen. He is flanked by evil ‘Laurel and Hardy’-type henchmen and the ensemble hurtle around the world, travelling by map, all trying to out-do and kill each other. Apparently the ‘Dial of Destiny’ has magically temporal abilities which can blah! blah! blah! Of the main cast Waller-Bridge is okay, but her character arc is confusing as we never quite care which side she is on. But, Mikkelsen impresses as the villain whose fiendish plan is frankly preposterous and revealed way too late into the final act.

Maybe I am just a grumpy old git, but I did have real issues with the story and screenplay of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). Oh, and the characterisation, darkly shot set-pieces, choppy editing, and gigantic plot-holes. James Mangold is a fine genre filmmaker and has made some terrific films during his career, but this is not one of them. It just smacks of another cynical money-making exercise by Disney, with little or no respect for the original’s legacy. Worst of all it was predictable, overlong and tedious. Having said that Harrison Ford is absolutely fantastic as Indiana Jones. He brings a real gravitas and emotional depth to the character. His physical stamina, given his age, is admirable too. Unfortunately, the screenplay should have been locked away with the Ark of the Covenant and never seen the light of day.

Mark: 6 out of 11